Tag Archives: Sony Computer Entertainment America

[EN]: Sony Computer Entertainment America announced today the sell-through of PlayStation 4 consoles surpasses 20 million units worldwide as of March 1, 2015. With Sony’s presence in 123 countries, the PlayStation 4 becomes the first game console in the eight generation of videogames to reach such as feat. A sell-though is when a customer buys a product from a retailer and not from a manufacturer or distributor.

“We are so grateful for the enormous support from PlayStation® fans worldwide, and we are truly humbled that gamers around the globe have continued to select PS4 as the best place to play,” mentioned Andrew House, President and Global CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. “We remain steadfast in our commitment to deliver unique and interactive entertainment experiences powered by the network and the PS4 system’s deep social capabilities.”

[EN]: Sony’s game streaming service, known as PlayStation Now, has been renting games à la carte, with prices mainly depending on the amount of hours or days customers would like to play the offered games for. Many gamers expressed their lack of dissatisfaction about the initial plan. Some players noticed a used copy of a PS3 game was cheaper than a 3-month period, but starting today, gamers could change their mind about the service.

According to PlayStation.Blog, Sony will offer a subscription service with unlimited access to a large library of PlayStation 3 titles starting in January 13. The service will cost $19.99 per month, or $44.99 for three months (~$15 a month), said Peter Jamshidi, Director of Marketing at PlayStation Now. The service will first arrive on the PS4 in North America, and later to PS Now-enabled devices.

With PS Now, there won’t be a need to download and install big files, but it will require a fast and constant Internet connection.

This service could convince current PS4 owners to subscribe to the service, instead of having to rent games for a price, though the price of the service for a year with the three-month plan would cost about $180.00. Perhaps the PlayStation Plus service should be included free for whoever gets PS Now.

[EN]: Sony Computer Entertainment America announced earlier today the arrival of the PlayStation Experience, a two-day community event for fans of everything PlayStation. The event, on December 6 and 7, will offer fans a great opportunity to attend panels, meet game developers, try out many upcoming games, and more, in Las Vegas. One-day tickets will cost $50.00 and the two-day event pass will cost $90.00. SCEA will offer more info about this event on October 20th.

[EN]: After last month’s announcement of the closure of PlayStation Home in Japan, Sony Computer Entertainment America and its European sister branch mentioned via their community sites that PS Home will shut down next year.

Both SCEA & SCEE mentioned the social gaming platform will no longer publish new content after November 12, 2014. Also, players will only be able to download any new content until December 3, 2014. As appreciation to the members of Home, the company will offer free content before the closing of PS Home on March 31, 2015.

Since its start on December 2008, PS Home was Sony’s version of Second Life, a virtual social gaming community. But last month’s announcement of the closure of PS Home in Japan was a prelude of things to come for the rest of the worldwide community.

Last year’s E3 was big for Sony, having destroyed Microsoft with their onslaught of interesting upcoming titles, their complete support of Indie games, and their message that they would be focusing purely on the core gamer. At that moment, it seemed clear that Sony had fully learned from their mistakes from the last generation and were ready to bring it with PS4. After Microsoft’s sloppy performance in getting there message out, Sony took full advantage of that and showed us in bullet points why the PS4 was better in every single way, so much so that after the conference, millions of people went to pre-order a Playstation 4 as fast as they could. So here we are a year later, and Sony remains on top. While Xbox One isn’t too far behind, it still is nowhere near the success of Playstation 4. So what can we expect from Sony this year? Is there a weakness Xbox One can exploit? And what does Sony need to do to keep the ball rolling so that they can stay on the path of success.

Kingdom Hearts III

Well while Sony did win E3 2013 in a lot of people’s minds last year, one thing that is clearly evident is the lack of games. Now when I say “lack,” this doesn’t mean that Sony didn’t announce anything last year, it just wasn’t much that we know about. We had Destiny which comes out in a few months, The Order 1886, and Final Fantasy XV but the rest were games that either came out last year, or we still know little to nothing about. Sony did say last year that all of their big studios are working on games for the PS4, but if this year Sony’s job is simple…deliver. Sony made a lot of big promises to us of experiences we can only get on PS4 and it’s important that they show us what we can expect from now till 2015. Obviously bigger titles are almost guaranteed to come out next year but what’s in store for us this Fall on PS4? What games are coming that are really gonna wow us and make us have to have a Playstation 4 this holiday season? But Playstation 4 isn’t the only console they have to worry about; Playstation Vita is definitely in need of some love at this year’s E3.

Destiny

Since the Vita’s release, there still haven’t been enough core games to really make that console shine. The console itself is still brilliant from a technological stand-point and if done correctly could actually out-do the 3DS, but good hardware is nothing without good software as Nintendo has proved time and time again. So this year, it’s finally time for Sony to give us a reason to buy a Vita aside from just the ability to play Indie games and ports. Another big thing that Sony is almost guaranteed to address is Playstation Now. If you are unaware, Playstation Now is a streaming service, in which you’ll be able to play Playstation 1, Playstation 2, and Playstation 3 games on your Playstation 4, Vita, and select TVs and mobile devices. The beta that started earlier this year just recently came to a close, and it’s due for release this Summer. That being said, I’m sure more news on this is coming and with the big deal backwards compatibility is to gamers, it could just be another reason for people to feel at ease about dropping the 400 bucks for a PS4 knowing the full library of Playstation titles is open to them.

Uncharted 4

So it’s clear whether it’s Sony, Nintendo, or Microsoft, the big thing that all of them have to do this year is show us the games. Last year was the time for the consoles to make their case, but this year it’s time for the games to sell us these consoles. For a lot of people, this E3 will decide what console they go with this generation, and in Sony’s case, they have the stage set to deliver, so all they have to do is show us the same big titles we have come to know from Sony as well as a bunch of new IPs as well. Of course, the big title we all hope to hear more about is Uncharted 4, especially with all the news of different parts of the development team leaving the project, making the state of that game a bit worrisome. But we also wanna see more of what was revealed last year in more detail and as well as new games to get excited about as well. Vita also has to bring it in a big way if they have any hopes of competing with the Nintendo 3DS. Still, with all that being said, this is an exciting time to be a gamer, because this year all three companies are competing for our love. And more so than loyalty to any of these companies we as gamers should let the games guide us to which console we find best. E3 2014 is drawing close, and you can count on El Mundo Tech to keep you posted on all the big reveals as they happen at this year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo.

[EN]: Many gamers hope to ever attend the Electronic Entertainment Expo to check out all the events, even the ones before the start of the expo, such as the E3 Press Conferences of the big gaming companies.

Sony Computer Entertainment America would be showing its Press Conference at over 40 movie theaters around the US and Canada for the first time to reach more gamers.

The PlayStation’s E3 Press Conference will be hosted by Geoff Keighley on June 9th at 8:30pm EST (show starts at 9pm). Space will be limited, but what’s best of all is that it’ll be free.

[EN]: During its presentation at GDC 2014, Sony Computer Entertainment America announced “Project Morpheus,” the company’s virtual reality device coming to the PS4. Morpheus features the same technology used in PlayStation Move. At GDC, Sony showed VR demos of God Of War, Thief, as well as of titles especifically made for use with the device such as The Deep, The Castle, as well as EVE Valkyrie, a multiplayer dogfighting shooter game playable on the current game development kit.

The new device will work with the PS4’s PlayStation Camera, PS Move, and its Wireless Controller. The Morpheus SDK is still under development, and will be available when ready.

[EN]: Jack Tretton will be saying good-bye to the company he has worked for for 19 years. On March 31st, 2014, Tretton will be working for the last time at Sony Computer Entertainment America after years for being one of the persons responsible for the success of the PlayStation platform since the PlayStation 1. According to the press release, “this is a result of a mutual agreement between Mr. Tretton and SCEA not to renew their contractual relationship.”

“Working at SCEA for the past 19 years has been the most rewarding experience of my career,” said Tretton. “Although I will deeply miss the talented team at SCEA and the passion demonstrated every day by our fans, I’m very excited about starting the next chapter of my career. I want to thank the employees, partners and customers for their tireless commitment to the PlayStation brand and, of course, to our fans who have pushed us to new heights of innovation and entertainment over the past two decades. I leave PlayStation in a position of considerable strength and the future will only get brighter for PlayStation Nation.”

Shawn Layden, who currently works as Executive Vice President and COO of Sony Network Entertainment International, will take Tretton’s position, starting April 1st. During his 15 years at Sony, Layden has worked for SCE Worldwide Studios, and was one of the founding members of Sony Network Entertainment International.

Andrew House, President and Group CEO, Sony Computer Entertainment, said: “I’ve worked with Jack for nearly two decades and I want to personally thank him for his leadership and the considerable contributions he’s made to the SCEA business and PlayStation brand over the years. I wish him nothing but the best in his future endeavors. I also want to welcome Shawn to the Sony Computer Entertainment America team. I have the utmost confidence in Shawn’s leadership capabilities, and his deep knowledge of the gaming industry and commitment to gamers, will help keep PlayStation at the forefront of entertainment and innovative gameplay.”

“It’s an honor and privilege to join Sony Computer Entertainment America and be a part of the team that is leading the next generation of gaming and entertainment,” said Layden. “SCEA is committed to delivering breakthrough gaming experiences that inspire fans and exceed their wildest expectations. As PS4™ shows us every day, there has never been a better time to be part of the PlayStation community and I look forward to working with our retail, development, publishing and network partners to further demonstrate why PlayStation is the best place to play.”